Effect of wastewaters on heavy metals concentration in different soils of north Karnataka, India

The concentration of heavy metals increased in soils from 4 to 8 pore volumes application of various wastewaters.. The effect of different wastewaters in enhancing the lead concentration

Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.804.124

Effect of Wastewaters on Heavy Metals Concentration

in Different Soils of North Karnataka, India Hanamantarao Jogan* and G.S Dasog

Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, UAS, Dharwad – 580 005, India

*Corresponding author

A B S T R A C T

Introduction

Increasing scarcity of water has turned to be

regular phenomenon in the recent past

Priorities of the water use have also being

changing with increased demand from the

other sectors creating competition for the

water use in agriculture sector Rapid

population increase in urban areas and

industrialization gives rise to concern about

appropriate water management practices

Surface waters are being polluted by means of wastes or effluent discharge from the industries, domestic sewage, and municipal wastes etc Further land application of wastewater is now becoming one of the most economically and ecologically viable method

of disposal of these waters With rapid expansion of cities and domestic water supply, quantity of grey/wastewater is increasing in the same proportion Overall analysis of water resources indicates that in

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 04 (2019)

Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

Water scarcity and increase wastewater generation are twin problem associated which needs to be addressed to derive benefit for agricultural production In this context laboratory study was conducted to characterize the wastewater from four different sources (Ugar sugar-Ugar khurd, West coast paper mill-Dandeli, Nectar beverages-Dharwad, Domestic sewage water-UAS campus Dharwad) in north Karnataka and were compared with freshwater Spentwash from the Ugar Sugar Works distillery was singularly different from rest of the wastewaters and was characterized by its high pH, EC, TSS, TDS, BOD, COD, total nitrogen, phosphate, potassium and sulphate concentration The effect of the wastewaters on the dominant soils of north Karnataka (Red, Lateritic and Black soil) were evaluated in column study during March-2014 to April-2015 Wide variation in water characteristics was recorded with wastewaters studied The concentration of heavy metals increased in soils from 4 to 8 pore volumes application of various wastewaters The highest lead concentration was observed in W4 The effect of different wastewaters in enhancing the lead concentration was highest in the black soil followed by red and then by lateritic soil The concentration of chromium in spentwash treated soils at both 4 and 8 pore volumes passage was not only highest but singularly different from the rest

K e y w o r d s

Wastewater, Water

quality, Lateritic

soil, Red soil, Black

Soil, Heavy metals,

Lead, Cadmium,

Chromium and

Mercury

Accepted:

10 March 2019

Available Online:

10 April 2019

Article Info

coming years, there will be a twin edged

problem to deal with reduced fresh water

availability and increased wastewater

generation Non-conventional water resources

play greater role for water augmentation to

achieve food security in water-scarce

countries in the near future Urban agriculture

using wastewater provides food, income and

employment to thousands of people

Nevertheless, reusing wastewater in

agriculture is considered a deleterious practice

since it may introduce pollutants to the

environment, spread waterborne diseases,

chemical contamination, soil salinization and

contamination of groundwater sources,

generate odour problems and result in

aversion to the crops (IWMI, 2006)

Contrarily, this kind of reuse may result in

some benefits for soils, crops and farmers

Nowadays, the reuse of wastewater in

agriculture is seen in some countries as a

convenient environmental strategy Globally

around 3 to 3.5 million hectares are irrigated

with raw and diluted wastewater irrigation

Wastewater is therefore, considered an

appropriate option for reuse Wastewater

contains a significant load of biodegradable

organic material and nutrients which are

necessary for the growth of crops

Accumulation of organic matter in soil by

irrigation with wastewater can be beneficial

as it may result in the enhancement of

physical structure of the soil, the increase in

soil microbial activity and improvement of

soil performance as a filter and degrading

media for pollutants The consistent use of

wastewater in irrigation may stabilize the

content of nutrients in the soil, even when

growing crops with high nutritional

requirements; this is because the continuous

withdrawal of nutrients by plants is

compensated by the constant input of organic

and mineral components into the soil via

wastewater Effect of sewage wastewater on

black soil (Varkey et al., 2015), paper mill

wastewater on red soil (Sharma et al., 2014)

and spentwash on black soil (Singh and Swami, 2014) have been studied Composite study on characterization of the wastewater and their effect of different wastewaters on a wide range of soil is sparse Information on effect of wastewater on a wide range of dominant soils of north Karnataka under controlled laboratory condition would give an insight into their capacity to bear the load of different chemical constituents Thus a comprehensive study on the effect of different wastewaters characterized by different properties on different soil types was planned and executed under laboratory conditions

Materials and Methods

The investigation was carried out by using three dominant soils of north Karnataka viz., Red (Ustropepts), Lateritic (Kanhaplic Haplustalfs), and Black soils (Typic Haplusterts) Four different water sources employed were domestic sewage, paper mill wastewater, soft drink factory wastewater, distillery spentwash and compared with fresh water (borewell water) The wastewater samples were collected from different sources were used for the column study For the column study 5 cm diameter PVC pipes of 60

cm long with perforated bottom end caps were used Initially the BD of each soil sample was measured, based on the BD and pipe column parameters (length and diameter) the quantity of soil filled in the each soil column was calculated

Volume of pipe column = π r2

h, r = 2.5 cm, h= 60 cm,

Volume of pipe column = 1178.25 cm3, Weight of soil in column = Volume × BD

Each soil samples were properly processed and passed through 2 mm sieve, before filling the columns Amount water added in each column was based on maximum water holding capacity of different soils Irrigation

was given in terms of pore volumes, totally 8

pore volumes were passed through soil

columns at an interval of 10 days After

passing two pore volumes one set of column was horizontally sectioned at an interval of 15

cm

Soils BD (g cm -3 ) Quantity of soil

added (kg)

MWHC (%) Amount of water added

per one pore volume (ml)

Experiment was conducted using two factorial

CRD with three replication Factor I included

different wastewater sources (1 Domestic

sewage water- UAS Dharwad, 2 Soft drink

factory treated wastewater- Nectar beverages,

Dharwad, 3 Paper mill treated wastewater-

West Coast Paper mill Dandeli, 4 Distillery

biomethanated spentwash (diluted with

normal water in the ratio of 1:3) - Ugar sugar

works Ugar khurd and 5 Normal water- Fresh

borewell water UAS Dharwad) and factor II

comprised of different soil depths (0-15cm,

15-30cm, 30-45cm and 45-60cm)

The pH and EC of the waters were analyzed

immediately after bringing the samples using

pH meter and Systronics direct digital

conductivity meter–304, respectively as

described by Tandon, 1998 The dissolved

solids in the effluents were determined by

gravimetric method The suspended solids in

the effluents were determined by filtration

method (Tandon, 1998) The Biological

oxygen demand (BOD) of effluents were

determined by measuring the dissolved

oxygen of the samples before and after

incubation at 200C for five days by titrating it

against sodium thiosulphate using starch

indicator and the BOD of sewage water was

calculated as described by Tandon (1998)

The Chemical oxygen demand (COD) of

wastewater was determined by open reflux

method The total nitrogen in water samples

was determined titrimetrically after distilling

the NH3 in boric acid mixed indicator The

phosphates in the effluents were determined

by chloro-stannous reduced blue colour method Potassium in the effluents was determined by using the flame photometer with suitable dilutions as described by

Tandon (1998)

The pH of soil was determined in 1: 2.5 soils

to water suspension after stirring the samples intermittently for half an hour using a Systronics direct digital 331 pH meter Electrical conductivity of the soil was determined in the supernatant of 1:2.5 soils to water suspension by using Systronics direct

digital conductivity meter–304 (Sparks et al.,

1996) The organic carbon content was determined by taking finely ground sample by wet oxidation method as described by Jackson (1967) Available nitrogen was estimated by modified alkaline potassium permanganate method (Sahrawat and Burford, 1982) Available phosphorus was determined by Olsen’s method extracting phosphorus with 0.5 M NaHCO3 pH 8.5 Available potassium was extracted with neutral normal ammonium acetate and the potassium in the solution was estimated by flame photometer (Jackson, 1967) Available sulphur was determined by

Turbidometric method described by Sparks et

al., (1996) The heavy metals like Pb, Hg, Cd,

and Cr in the soil samples were determined by using ICP-OES after adopting microwave

digestion procedure (Shirisha et al., 2014)

The experimental data was statistically analyzed as per Gomez and Gomez (1984) for soil physical and chemical properties The computed data was interpreted with a critical

differences level at 1 per cent

Results and Discussion

The pH of sewage water and the wastewater

from paper mill were near neutral whereas

those from soft drink factory and distillery

biomethanated spentwash were alkaline

(Table 1) The EC of paper mill and soft drink

factory wastewaters were around 2 dS m-1

whereas the sewage water was 1.23 dS m-1

closely followed by the normal water of the

campus The spentwash from the Ugar Sugar

Works distillery was the most saline with an

EC of 11.54 dS m-1 and in many other

properties such as TDS, TSS, BOD, COD,

Total N, P and K contents was singularly

different from rest of the wastewaters (Table

2) With respect to total N, P and K, the

remaining three wastewaters had similar

content The sewage water was characterized

by its high TSS, TDS, BOD and COD, the

values of which were much less in soft drink

factory wastewater and paper mill wastewater

except for high TDS and COD (Table 2)

Effect of different wastewaters on heavy

metals concentration

The heavy metal load in the soil columns

were analyzed after passing 4 and 8 pore

volumes of different wastewaters The

concentration of heavy metals increased in the

soils from 4 to 8 pore volumes application of

various wastewaters highest lead

concentration was observed in W4 (1.64 mg

kg-1) after 8 pore volumes application in red

soil followed by W1 (1.27 mg kg-1) with least

in W5 (0.39 mg kg-1) Similar trend was

observed in other soils also with a general

sequence W4>W1>W2>W3>W5 at both 4 and

8 pore volumes passage However, the

difference between W3 and W2 and between

W2 and W1 or sometimes among the three

was not significant in lateritic and black soils

The effect of different wastewaters in

enhancing the lead concentration was highest

in the black soil followed by red soil followed

by lateritic soil (Table 3 and 4)

The concentration of chromium in spentwash treated soils at both 4 and 8 pore volumes passage was not only highest but singularly different from the rest The effect of other three wastewaters was nearly same The

W4>W2>W1=W3>W5 in all the soils The effect of spentwash was highest in red and non-calcareous black soils and much less in lateritic and calcareous black soils The concentration of chromium increased in D4

compared to D1 in all the soils (Table 3 and 4)

The effect of different wastewaters did not bring any change in the cadmium and mercury concentration in any of the soils at any of the pore volumes at any depth Their concentration was same as that of soil treated with normal water

The study revealed that continuous irrigation with different wastewaters has not resulted in buildup of heavy metals in soils Pb and Cr content were highest in spentwash treated soils than others due to their high content in spentwash Sewage water and soft drink factory wastewater were next in order in enhancing lead content in soils Despite high

Pb content in spentwash, its effect in enhancing Pb content was not appreciable, especially in lateritic and black soils This may be related to adsorption of Pb by minerals present in lateritic soils (Das and Mondal, 2011) and by CaCO3 present in the black soils In the case of Cr, soft drink factory wastewater, sewage water and paper mill wastewater were in the order of abundance of Cr in soils which is directly related to its content in respective wastewaters The effect of different wastewaters was appreciable in red and

non-calcareous black soils but less in lateritic and

calcareous black soils This may be related to

the interaction of wastewaters with iron and

aluminum oxides in the former and CaCO3 in

the latter

Malla and Totawat (2007) reported that

application of sewage water resulted in

accumulation of heavy metals in soils Vinod

Kumar and Chopra (2011) also reported that

higher accumulation of heavy metals in paper

mill irrigated soils But the concentration of

heavy metals (Pb and Cr) in the wastewater

irrigated soils was below the maximum permissible limits as given by Kabata and Pendias (1992) and Department of Environment (1989)

Mercury and cadmium was not detected level

in all the soils under different treatments There was no significant difference found with respect to cadmium concentration within the treatments in soils This is due to the fact that both these elements were not detected in the wastewaters used for the study (Table 5 and 6)

Table.1 Initial properties of soils studied

Properties Red soil Lateritic soil Black soil

Available-Phosphorus (kg ha -1 ) 32.5 14.0 20.5

Table.2 Chemical composition of water samples

Parameters Sewage Soft drink

factory

Paper mill Spentwash Normal

water

Table.3 Pb and Cr (mg kg-1) concentrations in red and lateritic soils after passing 4 and 8 pore volumes of different wastewaters

Red soil

WS 4 pore volumes (Pb) 8 pore volumes (Pb) 4 pore volumes (Cr) 8 pore volumes (Cr)

Mean 0.84 1.16 1.00 0.90 1.30 1.10 0.07 0.15 0.11 0.11 0.16 0.13

Wx

D

Lateritic soil

Mean 0.75 0.97 0.86 0.78 1.07 0.92 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.09 0.07

Wx

D

W1- Sewage water; W2- Soft drink factory wastewater ; W3- paper mill wastewater; W4-distillery spentwash

W5- normal tap water; D1= 0 to 15 cm depth; D2= 15 to 30 cm depth; D3= 30 to 45 cm depth

D4= 45 to 60 cm depth; M - Mean

(each values mean of triplicates)

Table.4 Pb and Cr (mg kg-1) concentrations in black soil after passing 4 and 8 pore volumes of different wastewaters

Calcareous soil

WS

4 pore volumes (Pb) 8 pore volumes (Pb) 4 pore volumes (Cr) 8 pore volumes (Cr)

Mean 1.07 1.21 1.14 1.11 1.36 1.23 0.01 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.06 0.05

Wx

D

W1- Sewage water; W2- Soft drink factory wastewater ; W3- paper mill wastewater; W4-distillery spentwash

W5- normal tap water; D1= 0 to 15 cm depth; D2= 15 to 30 cm depth; D3= 30 to 45 cm depth

D4= 45 to 60 cm depth; M - Mean

(each values mean of triplicates)

Table.5 Cd and Hg (mg kg-1) concentrations in red and lateritic soils after passing 4 and 8 pore volumes of different wastewaters

Red soil

WS 4 pore volumes (Cd) 8 pore volumes (Cd) 4 pore volumes (Hg) 8 pore volumes (Hg)

Wx

D

Lateritic soil

Wx

D

W1- Sewage water W2- Soft drink factory wastewater W3- paper mill wastewater W4-distillery spentwash W5- normal tap water D1= 0 to 15 cm depth D2= 15 to 30 cm depth D3= 30 to 45 cm depth D4= 45 to 60 cm depth M - Mean (each values mean of triplicates)

Table.6 Cd and Hg (mg kg-1) concentrations in black soil after passing 4 and 8 pore volumes of different wastewaters

Calcareous soil

WS 4 pore volumes (Cd) 8 pore volumes (Cd) 4 pore volumes (Hg) 8 pore volumes (Hg)

Wx

D

W1- Sewage water W2- Soft drink factory wastewater W3- paper mill wastewater W4-distillery spentwash W5- normal tap water D1= 0 to 15 cm depth D2= 15 to 30 cm depth D3= 30 to 45 cm depth D4= 45 to 60 cm depth M - Mean (each values mean of triplicates)

In conclusion, the concentration of heavy

metals increased in soils from 4 to 8 pore

volumes application of various wastewaters

The highest lead concentration was observed

in W4 The effect of different wastewaters in

enhancing the lead concentration was highest

in the two black soils followed by red and

then by lateritic soil The concentration of

chromium in spentwash treated soils at both 4

and 8 pore volumes passage was not only

highest but singularly different from the rest

The effect of other three wastewaters was

nearly same The effect of spentwash was

highest in red and non-calcareous black soils

and much less in lateritic and calcareous black

soils The concentration of lead and

chromium was more in D4 compared to D1 in

all the soils Cadmium and mercury were not

detected in any of the soils as none of the

wastewaters contained them

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How to cite this article:

Hanamantarao Jogan and Dasog, G.S 2019 Effect of Wastewaters on Heavy Metals

Concentration in Different Soils of North Karnataka, India Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci

8(04): 1070-1079 doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.804.124